Shepherd's Conference

Well, I would also like to share about Shepherds Conference. The three of us (Chris, Jay and Julian) went to the conference. Shepherds Conference is an annual conference held by Grace Community Church of Sun Valley, and it is directed towards the shepherds i.e. pastors and lay leaders. Its aim is to equip and encourage pastors and leaders of various churches around the world. Grace Community Church's doctrinal stand does not align well with a lot of Korean Churches. However, its faithfulness in handling the word of God and genuine fellowship between the believers are considered as the standard for all modern evangelical churches.

We went through rigorous lecture sessions, services and workshops during the conference. However, I personally benefitted from the messages given during the services. Although there were many messages given by various pastors, I would like to share two of them. The first message was the one given by John MacArthur, the senior pastor of Grace Community Church (also the president of Master's college and Seminary who is considered as one of the most influential preacher of our time), and the message was about separation between God's people and the people of the world. The point was that there is clear distinction between God's people and the people of the world in the church, outside of the church and even in mist of church functions. This clearly identified the problem many churches encounter today where Christians and even the worship services are blend into the patterns of the world that they are no longer distinguishable as "of God." And so the message encouraged the audience (the pastors and the leaders) to set the standard in teaching word of God as well as living the life of godliness distinct from the patterns of the world.

The second message is the one given by Albert Mohler. Albert Mohler is the current president of Southern Baptist Seminary in Louisville, Kentucky (also a nation wide radio program host and one of the most well-known preacher of our time). The message given by Dr. Mohler was about the healing of blind man by Jesus. He focused on the fact that it wasn't the blind man who was actually blind, but the pharisees, who interviewed and condemned the formerly blind man, who were actually blind. This is because the blind man was able to concede to the authority of Christ and believe, even though he didn't know much, whereas the pharisees, the teachers of the law, were unable to accept Jesus as Christ despite their role as leaders. This showed an interesting similarity with Christians of today. Many believers today have tendency to inquire for physical evidence despite the presence of the Word of God, which parallels the spiritual blindness of the Pharisees. Believers are to open their eyes and see what lies beyond this world and the offers of this world.

Overall, the entire conference was very encouraging. All of the volunteers (restroom cleaners, food servers, workers as well as ushers) showed genuineness and respect towards all of the attendees. From which, all three of us felt genuine godliness and maturity of true believers. I sincerely pray and hope that all of us can demonstrate and emulate such godly lifestyle and genuineness in our lives as well.

-Polar Bear-